Uncertainty is the technology of possibility.
What a great sentence. Could doubt really be a place of discovery?
The idea that NOT knowing is a super power to harness, not to fear or avoid. Uncertainty can show up as finances, the future or even simple daily events such as what we should eat or what type of yoga class might suit us. We often tell ourselves we like certain things such as the same foods, holiday destinations or habits but what if it’s the certainty we like instead, the knowing exactly what we are getting and all the security that gives us? Then how do we deal with the anxiety of uncertainty?
As humans we are good at getting over failure, yet rate it as a big fear if asked. The old idea of ‘don’t touch your potential incase it isnt there’ and uncertainty combined can hold us in limbo, a hover, a freeze.
Uncertainty makes us uncomfortable because we dont know the outcome. Our nervous system like security, known outcomes. Getting comfortable with uncertainty, however, changes brain habits, neuropathways and our negativity bias expeditiously.
Experiments with electric shocks showed that given the choice of a 50/50 chance of a small electric shock or 100 percent chance, more people surprisingly chose 100 percent shock rate because even receiving the pain was a kind of comfort in its certainty, a known and expected outcome, response and sensation.
Interestingly, guilt fades in the brain but regret lingers for a long time leaving strong markers in the brain with future ramifications for us and uncertainty can be a common catalyst for both guilt and regret as well as many other behaviours.
So can we reframe uncertainty? Can we take ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I’m not sure’ and see a sense of beauty or freedom in that? Is uncertainty gut instinct guiding us or is it deeply formed habits and behaviours we feel uneasy about side stepping?
Is it possible to shift uncertainty from a threat to an opportunity?
If you like the possibility of uncertainty check out The Uncertainty Experts online and social media and their book, The Uncertainty Toolkit. As a topic it dovetails so nicely with our yoga philosophy and their work centres around coping strategies, noticing our responses and many other overlaps with yoga.
